Reincarnation
by KageNoYoko
Summary: "No matter how many years it takes for us to atone for our sins, or for us to talk Shiki into regaining our human forms, we will find each other Marisa. Some way, some how." ReiMari, RenMari
1. Reimu X Marisa

"Hey Reimu?" The dark-haired girl's head lifted at the sound of her best friend's voice. The two were sitting together at the front of the Hakurei shrine, watching the clouds pass overhead as they drank tea together, and every once in a while they would spot a fairy flutter past, looking as carefree as a child at play.

"Yes Marisa?" Reimu finally replied, turning to face her blonde-haired friend, who she was surprised to see looked rather serious for once, though she couldn't fathom a reason why. As far as she knew Marisa had not gotten into a fight with Alice recently, and had been keeping away from the scarlet devil mansion for the week because Patchoulli knowledge, the last member of the magical trio, was deep into research of some type of new project for the lady of the mansion.

Marisa turned away from her friend again, and her bright yellow eyes went skyward, up to the blue skies that expanded outward over the land of fantasy, a sight that everyone could share in this world, even if they didn't always agree with one another.

The pair waited in calm silence for Marisa to finally get her thoughts straight, Reimu taking another sip of her tea in the meantime, before the ordinary magician jumped to her feet and turned to her best friend, extending out a finger to point at the shrine maiden dramatically.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?" The blonde witch finally asked, the question hovering over the shrine grounds as an awkward silence descended upon the pair.

Reimu gave her friend an incredulous look for several moments, at a loss for words over the dramatic way Marisa had asked such a simple question, before beginning to chuckle at the sheer extravagancy her friend of many years went to sometimes.

"Reincarnation Marisa?" Reimu repeated in amusement, "You are asking the Hakurei shrine maiden, the guardian of a land of myths and fantasies, if she believes in reincarnation?"

"Are you saying you don't?" Marisa replied, returning to her seat beside the dark-haired girl, and grabbing up her tea cup, taking a long swig of it while waiting for the other girl's reply.

"Marisa, we've been to the afterlife before, we fought the judge of the dead," Reimu pointed out in a monotone, "Of course I believe in reincarnation! Shiki even told us that our deeds determine how long we spend in hell before we are reincarnated."

"Ah y-yeah, I remember her saying that," Marisa replied unconvincingly, rubbing the back of her neck as a reflex from her embarrassment, "I was just checking to see if you had."

"Of course Marisa, of course," Reimu answered, though the corners of her lips tugged upwards in amusement at her friend's attempts to save face.

Silence fell upon the pair once more, as Marisa began to swing her feet over the side of the porch, and Reimu watched the clouds pass overhead, along with a small blue dot she thought might be the mischievous ice fairy, probably off to go play with her friends in the forest, she mused.

"So, do you think that if we're reincarnated, we'll be able to find each other again?" Marisa finally asked to break the silence. Reimu's head turned back to her friend, and she finally allowed the smile to slide onto her face as she began to lean towards her somewhat oblivious friend.

Marisa was understandably surprised, "Hey Reimu, what are you doing? it was just a simple quest," The blonde witch was cut off as the shrine maiden's lips pressed against her own softly, stealing the words from her mind as it was wiped blank by the chaste kiss.

Reimu pulled away a moment later, still with a small smile on her lips, and her eyes shining in amusement at the dopey look her friend had on her face from such a simple kiss, the most basic, and yet most complex magic of all. Love.

finding her eyes once again being pulled towards the sky, Reimu finally answered her friend's question from earlier as she saw Cirno being chased across the sky by three mischievous fairies, who were launching Danmaku haphazardly at her as she fled.

"I don't think there is anything in the world that could keep us from finding each other again Marisa," The shrine maiden answered honestly.


	2. Renko X Maribel

"No matter how many years it takes for us to atone for our sins, or for us to talk Shiki into regaining our human forms, we will find each other Marisa. Some way, some how."

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

A Black-haired girl huffed in annoyance as she sat on the edge of the stone fountain, her eyes looking up at the blue skies overhead, watching as clouds passed, and time ticked by in her mind, while she waited for her somewhat scatterbrained best friend to show up.

It was just like her, she mused, to be late to something that had been her idea. but Renko Usami couldn't fault her friend for it. She was much too sweet to remain angry at over something as trivial as being a little bit late.

"Renko, hey Renko, I'm here!" A cheerful voice snapped the girl from her thoughts, and she moved her eyes to the crowds passing the fountain by, scanning the mass of mixing colours for a glimpse of that bright blonde hair she had come to know so well.

Finally a tall, gangly blonde-haired girl pushed out of the crowds, somehow managing to make it look planned and refined, before smiling down at her seated best friend, looking only slightly apologetic.

Lifting herself back to her feet and grabbing her messenger bag from the ground beside her, Renko looked her friend of several years and fellow club member Maribel Hearn up and down, before nodding twice and flicking her on the forehead.

Wincing at the pain, the taller girl flinched back and cried out, "Uwai, Renko, what was that for?" she complained, holding her forehead.

"09:30:00, you are exactly a half-hour late," Renko announced to her friend, who had the sense to look sheepish from the chastising. "Furthermore, this trip was your idea, so you should have been here before me today. How is the occult club supposed to find the boundaries of the world if one of only two members has her head in the clouds all the time?"

Maribel did look ashamed of the fact that she was late, Renko mused, but that cute look the blonde was giving her did not diminish the truth of her words. Maribel had a nasty habit of always being late because she was daydreaming, and Renko was sometimes worried that one day she might not come back from those dreams.

"Anyways," Renko sighed, adjusting the position of her black hat atop her head, and smiling up at her friend, "You said there was some place that you've heard is haunted, and you wanted to go and see it today, didn't you?"

Thankfully Maribel perked up as her friend's anger disappeared, and that carefree smile returned to her face as she looked down at her, "Yeah, there was this abandoned shrine on the outskirts of the city that I've heard people have seen ghosts at, and was hoping that maybe we could see some if we poked around a bit."

"Uh Merry," Renko spoke up as she hurried to follow her friend as they waded back into the crowds, "Ghosts don't come out in the day time."

"Well maybe we can spend the entire day poking around, and then have an evening picnic, staring up at the stars together," Merry suggested, none of her enthusiasm diminishing as she showed her friend the basket she had brought along. Renko had the distinct thought her friend had this whole thing planned the entire time, but cheerfully went along with Merry's plan this time.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

"I can't believe this," Renko groaned as the two descended the stairs of the abandoned shrine, "We spent all day at the shrine, and not a single ghost sighting to speak of."

"Look on the bright side," Merry replied, that same smile still on her face, "We got to spend the day together doing something we enjoyed."

"Yeah," Renko mused, "but we're still going to be the laughingstocks of the school if we don't eventually find some concrete evidence of the supernatural world. Maybe we should stop following every rumour that you hear Merry."

"But this one sounded so true," Merry complained, "In the evening, the ghosts of a shrine maiden and witch will appear at the abandoned shrine, two lost souls that are destined to be together, forever, always able to find one another no matter the distance or time. It was so romantic that it just had to be true."

"Sounds like a tall tale to me," Renko muttered as they finally reached the street level, and were greeted by the sight of the sunset over the nearby cliffs, bathing the trees below in shades of orange light.

"You have to admit though, this is a very pretty view," Merry pointed out, as she followed Renko to the fence by the cliff to stop cars from going over.

"It is pretty nice," Renko had to agree, before beginning to turn to her tall best friend. She was surprisingly stopped when she felt a pair of soft lips press against her own, and her eyes opened wide as Merry leaned over her, having initiated the kiss.

The kiss lasted but a few seconds, and both girls had enjoyed it, but as Renko pulled away from her friend, she was surprised to see a different sight in place of the tall, beautiful girl she had come to know over the years.

In her place was a girl in a black-and-white witches outfit, long blonde hair tied up in a braid that hung over one shoulder with a green ribbon as a decoration, and a cocky grin upon her face as she looked up at her.

Maribel, on the other hand, saw a shrine maiden dressed in red and white, with a pair of detached sleeves, and a large red bow looking very much like a butterfly tied up in her long black hair. She looked somewhat strict, but in her eyes the girl could see amusement and care dancing around, as if someone she knew well had just told her a nice joke.

The image lasted for barely a moment for the two girls, before they vanished suddenly, and the pair were once again standing by the cliff, as the sun vanished below the horizon, and the sky continued to darken, stars coming out like diamonds in the sky.

Renko was the first to recover, and looked up at her friend in confusion, "Merry, did you just see what I saw?"

The blonde girl turned to look out over the landscape for a few moments before finding an answer for her friend, "Maybe that rumour was a bit more true than we had thought, eh '**Reimu?'**" The blonde haired girl said, beginning to laugh.

The shorter girl blinked up at her friend for a few moments, not understanding what was so funny, before deciding to just join in. It was sometimes better to just give in to Merry's bizarre sense of humour.

She was startled again when she felt soft fingers intertwining with her own, and Merry beginning to pull her down the road as night fell overhead, "Well come on Renko, don't you have a class in the morning?"

a smile tugged at the corner of the black-haired girl's lips as she followed her best friend, remembering now why she always went along with the crazy rumours and wild goose-chases that Merry overheard.

"So Renko?"

"Yeah Merry?"

"Do you believe in Reincarnation?"

"What kind of a question is that?!"


End file.
